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A group of 10 pray outside a Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousands Oaks following a mass shooting that left 13 dead, including the shooter, on Wednesday, Nov, 7, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Modesti/LA Daily News/SCNG)

One of those victims, Ventura County sheriff’s Deputy Ron Helus, was taken there. Helus was killed in the gunfire as well as 11 others.

“I needed to be here to show my respect.” said Lilly Rigg, who lives in Thousand Oaks near bar where the shooting occurred. Something like this “never happened so close to home. It’s such a tight community. So safe.”

Many of those at the bar were young students from nearby colleges, as the bar held one of its weekly “college nights.”

Christina Duffy, a Thousand Oaks resident, said her sons are away at college or could’ve been in at the bar when the shooting took place. She feared that she would know names of the victims when they surface.

“Those aren’t MY children, but they’re OUR children,” she said.

Josh Brice was here to honor Sgt. Helus and the other victims. His family of five moved from Redlands four years ago.

“It’s such a quiet community,” he said. “We never have any issues. That’s one of the reasons we moved here – it’s so safe.”

Kevin Modesti is a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News and the Southern California News Group, covering the political scene in Los Angeles County. An L.A. native, he was a sports writer, columnist and editor for most of his career, and later an editorial board member, writer and editor in the Opinion section. He lives in the San Fernando Valley and is based in the Woodland Hills office.